Thursday, April 29, 2010

Focus On The Family In Singapore

The Ministry of Education selected 6 out of 17 applicants to run sexuality educcation programmes in schools. One of them is Focus on The Family Singapore.

Focus on the Family (FOTF) was founded by James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr. an American evangelical Christian author and psychologist. Although he has never drawn a salary from the nonprofit organization, he has used it to promote his related books and publications, yielding him royalties for sales through other venues.

Focus on the Family is unabashed about its anti-homosexuality agenda, and was the weapon of choice when self-style Feminist Mentor Thio Su-Mien took on AWARE in 2009.

Dobson is reputedly America's most influential evangelical leader, with a following reportedly greater than that of either Falwell or Robertson at their peak. It has been said Dobson may have delivered Bush his victories in Ohio and Florida, the man who sent young men to war in the fictitious hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

In the winter of 2004-2005, the We Are Family Foundation sent American elementary schools approximately 60,000 copies of a free DVD using popular cartoon characters (most notably Sponge Bob Squarepants) to "promote tolerance and diversity." Dobson contended that "tolerance" and "diversity" are "buzzwords" that the We Are Family Foundation misused as part of a "hidden agenda" to promote homosexuality.

Critics, such as People for the American Way, allege that Focus on the Family encourages Christian teachers to establish prayer groups in public schools.

In his book The Strong-Willed Child, Dobson advocates strong disciplinary action in bringing up children:
“By learning to yield to the loving authority... of his parents, a child learns to submit to other forms of authority which will confront him later in his life — his teachers, school principal, police, neighbors and employers".
Michael Fay should be so grateful for the Singapore lesson.

Dobson declined to vote for Senator John McCain, "as a matter of conscience," echoing other conservative commentators' concerns about the Senator's conservatism. Yet, after McCain selected a pro-life candidate, Sarah Palin, as his running mate, Dobson said that he was more enthusiastic in his support for the Republican ticket. When Palin's 17-year old daughter's fatherless pregnancy was revealed, Dobson issued a press release commending Palin's stance, saying,
“ We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances."

Will the Ministry of Education programme also support illegitimate pregnancies?

Dobson published a "Letter from 2012 in Obama's America" that proposed that an Obama presidency would lead to: mandated homosexual teachings across all schools; the banning of firearms in entire states; the end of the Boy Scouts, home schooling, Christian school groups, Christian adoption agencies, and talk radio; pornography on prime-time and daytime television; mandatory bonuses for gay soldiers; terrorist attacks across America; the nuclear bombing of Tel Aviv; the conquering of most of Eastern Europe by Russia; the end of health care for Americans over 80; out-of-control gasoline prices; and complete economic disaster in the United States, among other catastrophes. Sounds very similar to the Thio Su-Mien who maintained that SARS virus hit Singapore because of the nation’s involvement in abortion as the contraceptive of choice.

About Me

"There is nothing to prevent you from pushing your propaganda, to push your programme out either to the students or with the public at large... and if you can carry the ground, if you are right, you win. That's democracy. We're not preventing anybody" ~ Lee Kuan Yew, 31 January 2005